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What should studios learn from Wonder Woman's success?

L

Lights and Waves

Member
While Spidey's % drop will be a big cause for commotion and think pieces this upcoming week, I want to point out that Wonder Woman is gearing up to hit $400M domestic. If it hits $403M, it'll be the biggest domestic super hero origin ever (fact check me if I'm wrong here).

So what should studios learn from her success? Some options:

- Return to Donner style heroes (I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do VS I'm doing this for personal gain)
- The character needs to be the driver of the film, not the action sequences
- Let films have their own distinct look and feel. Let them be works of their director rather than productions of a studio
- Create memorable scenes that transcend the film and elevate it from a movie to a pop culture moment (No Man's Land)

Those are just some things I'd consider. What do you think of WW's success and how others can learn from it? Do you think it's too late for upcoming films?
 
B

BlackGoku03

Member
GAF said Spidey's drop isn't a big deal so I doubt there will be any articles... Right? Contributors don't count.


As for what studios need to learn, especially WB, is get the script right then shoot it. Have your characters make sound decisions and put a competent director behind it and leave them the fuck alone.

I'm sure I'm missing more.
 
D

DecoReturns

Member
I think Wonder Woman is the only superhero film where I cared about the love interest and their story together.

That's something I'll like to see in other films.

Edit: hmm think I misunderstood the question.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
Lesson is the same as it's always been:

Make a good movie
Put good characters in it
Have those characters engage the audience
Establish something unique in your superhero film that the others don't have.
SELL THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF IT.

Basically - be confident in your material, don't make excuses for it, and execute it well.

That's the lesson.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
You can be a 4 quadrant movie without inserting a joke into every scene. *glares at The Mummy*
 
T

TheBowen

Sat alone in a boggy marsh
- Have interesting settings for each superhero to make it stand out
- Have interesting characters, villains
- Have great script, actors and chemistry on screen
- Don't beat over the head with love scenes
- Don't beat over the head trying to tie something in to the greater 'cinematic universe'
- People do care about woman superheroes, and by extension PoC superheroes. They can make money AND be good.
- Have fun and interesting action scenes
- Your super hero movie can have a deeper metaphorical meaning ( thought of this with Logan too)
- Even the strangest origin stories can get audiences interested

Logan and this and have been great movies to shake up super hero movies recently
 
choodi

choodi

Banned
Make a good movie and people will flock to see it regardless of the gender/race/colour of its lead actor.
 
G

GeordieMark

Member
Take one step at a time. Instead of focusing on building a "universe", concentrate on making a good movie first. Too often the Marvel movies feel rushed and neglect good storytelling because of this.
 
A

Alienous

Member
Take characters that have survived for decades (such as in comic books), translate them to the big screen respectfully, and you'll make a ton of money.
 
W

Winterblink

Member
Bobby Roberts said:
Lesson is the same as it's always been:

Make a good movie
Put good characters in it
Have those characters engage the audience
Establish something unique in your superhero film that the others don't have.
SELL THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF IT.

Basically - be confident in your material, don't make excuses for it, and execute it well.

That's the lesson.
Click to expand...

Nothing more needs to be said here really, you nail it right there.
 
T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
Marvel should learn to not sabotage dramatic moments to put a joke in absolutely every scene.

DC should learn to let their heroes be heroes.
 
P

Principate

Saint Titanfall
GeordieMark said:
Take one step at a time. Instead of focusing on building a "universe", concentrate on making a good movie first. Too often the Marvel movies feel rushed and neglect good storytelling because of this.
Click to expand...
Spider-Man reviewed well though. Amount as well as wonder woman by many audience and critic metrics.

I think it just didn't seem all that interesting from a casual observer and existed because it needed to rather than a drive to a particularily interesting story audiences would like, that catches the imagination.
 
P

Penguin

Member
Lights and Waves said:
While Spidey's % drop will be a big cause for commotion and think pieces this upcoming week, I want to point out that Wonder Woman is gearing up to hit $400M domestic. If it hits $403M, it'll be the biggest domestic super hero origin ever (fact check me if I'm wrong here).

So what should studios learn from her success? Some options:

- Return to Donner style heroes (I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do VS I'm doing this for personal gain)
- The character needs to be the driver of the film, not the action sequences
- Let films have their own distinct look and feel. Let them be works of their director rather than productions of a studio
- Create memorable scenes that transcend the film and elevate it from a movie to a pop culture moment (No Man's Land)

Those are just some things I'd consider. What do you think of WW's success and how others can learn from it? Do you think it's too late for upcoming films?
Click to expand...

1)Tone/style is not a one-size fits all thing. I've said before that Donner's style of heroics is my personal favorite, but I've loved comic films that have embraced a wide swath of style and tones.

2)I mean while true, the most memorable part of WW is an action sequence....

3)I think a lot of films embrace this to varying degrees
 
S

Steel

Banned
Don't rely entirely on witty one liners. Don't rely entirely on action scenes that people have seen a hundred variations of before. Make love interest an actual independent agent in the story.
 
T

The One and Done™

Member
That lightning does occasionally strike. I loved WW. It's one of the best super hero films ever. But I don't think for a second that we'll get anything close in the near future. WW2 is already coming in way behind imo
 
P

Principate

Saint Titanfall
PantherLotus said:
Copying the Captain America origin story format is a good idea for DC.
Click to expand...
Captain America was a boring film after he became captain America and they completely wasted the red skull. I don't think it's a good format to copy at all. He has a good origin but it's not some exceptional thing that has to be the template for other films.
 
N

Neoleo2143

Member
Don't be afraid to be sincere. Superheroes are ridiculous, yes, but they're just an exaggeration of the ideal qualities of heroism in general and it's not worth undercutting that through trying to get one liners through. If there's one lesson to take from Wonder Woman, it's that.
 
L

LegendofDragoonLives

Member
It was a good movie but lets not get carried away. Neither was anywhere near amazing or ground breaking that the other needs to learn all much from it (both are around a similar level for me).
 
S

Steel

Banned
LegendofDragoonLives said:
It was a good movie but lets not get carried away. Neither was anywhere near amazing or ground breaking that the other needs to learn all much from it (both are around a similar level for me).
Click to expand...

The judgement of the films are within the context of superhero movies, which are already a low low bar.
 
C

CaviarMeths

Member
What WB will learn: "These movies need to have heart and levity. Noted."
What Disney will learn: "Is it too late to get Patty for Captain Marvel? It is? Shit."
What Sony will learn: "Aunt May movie is back on the menu!"
What Fox will learn: "We need Mystique to headline New Mutants."
What Universal will learn: "Well, I guess we should give Letty something interesting to do in FF9."
What Paramount will learn: "Let's spend $200m on a WW1 epic love story."

Seriously though, people saying "just make a good movie" I don't think are quite accurate. Wonder Woman is a fantastic movie, but it's also a celebration and a rallying point. People are going back to see it again and telling all their friends and family to see it not just because it's a good movie, but also because it's such a landmark for the genre. It's an important movie for girls and women who are fans of action/adventure movies. It's a major event in the superhero film world. These are all things that just any other good superhero movie won't have to take it up to that next level.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Bobby Roberts said:
Lesson is the same as it's always been:

Make a good movie
Put good characters in it
Have those characters engage the audience
Establish something unique in your superhero film that the others don't have.
SELL THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF IT.

Basically - be confident in your material, don't make excuses for it, and execute it well.

That's the lesson.
Click to expand...
Pretty much this. Also, I'd argue that by doing the first three on your list, Wonder Woman did the 4th - which is why it's doing what it's doing. The non-cynical, Donner approach to heroism is as well, of course.
 
S

Staccat0

Fail out bailed
Principate said:
Captain America was a boring film after he became captain America and they completely wasted the red skull. I don't think it's a good format to copy at all. He has a good origin but it's some exceptional thing that has to be the template for other films.
Click to expand...
I'm always confused by the rose colored glasses people wear when they watch TFA.
 
E

EGM1966

Member
Make good films.
Judge carefully how much you use a specific character/franchise
Don't be afraid to be bold artistically
Don't be overly formulaic

It's obvious stuff but I feel studios always fall into trap of following trends too much, over milking franchises and avoiding risk.
 
V

VeryGooster

Banned
Wonder Woman should be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.

Don't be cynical about what you're making and what story you're trying to tell.

Play to the character's strengths and WHY this character has fans.
 
E

elrechazado

Banned
Gooster said:
Wonder Woman should be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.

Don't be cynical about what you're making and what story you're trying to tell.

Play to the character's strengths and WHY this character has fans.
Click to expand...
When wonder woman is not on the screen, all of the other characters should be asking, where is wonder woman?
 
S

Somnid

Member
Social justice oriented marketing. The movie is not anything special, but having a female front lead and female director sold it. That's what people want to hear, that's what they want to support, it represents a change over what has become a sea of white male superhero leads. I'd be willing to bet Black Panther sees a similar effect even knowing nothing about the actual quality of the movie.
 
R

rrs

Member
That taking some risk can pay off in the long term? Think of like Guardians of the Galaxy which took 80's nostalgia and mixed it with a cast just quirky enough to not drive away a casual audience made big returns. Can't say anything movie specific with WW since I haven't seen it yet.
 
M

MegaManTrigger

Banned
People bringing up Spider-Man's % drop should realize that it's been only 3 years since the last Spider-Man movie, and the general idea was that the Amazing Spider-Man was too early a reboot from the Raimi Spider-Man movies. Signals that Spidey fatigue was more of a thing than superhero genre fatigue.
 
F

Fancyarcher

Member
Pretty simple, make a good superhero film and more then likely it'll have good legs. In the case of Wonder Woman, it was because it was the first really good female superhero film and was superbly well-received. I could see something like Black Panther having great legs because of it as well.

MegaManTrigger said:
People bringing up Spider-Man's % drop should realize that it's been only 3 years since the last Spider-Man movie, and the general idea was that the Amazing Spider-Man was too early a reboot from the Raimi Spider-Man movies. Signals that Spidey fatigue was more of a thing than superhero genre fatigue.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and Homecoming is likely going to outgross both of the Amazing Spider-Man films domestically and worldwide. Pretty ridiculous how people are overreacting if you ask me.
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman

Banned
Make more movies based on characters that Sgt. Kabukiman cares about. Legion of Superheroes, here we go!

But seriously, I don't think there's one specific lesson that studios should learn from WW aside from the fact that mainstream audiences aren't scared of vaginas. But we've known that since the 80s at the very least, thanks to Sigourney Weaver and many others that were sadly ignored.

Some blockbuster films like WW succeed because they mean something to a certain part of their audience and are very earnest about it. I'd also put Superman 1 and Raimi's Spidey in that category. Others succeed because they strike the right tone at the right time with the right filmmaker. See: The Dark Knight. Others succeed because they're just a whole lot of fun. See: Civil War. There are no rules, just movies that are successful because they were made with passion and came out at the right time.
 
S

shawnbuddy

Member
Neoleo2143 said:
Don't be afraid to be sincere. Superheroes are ridiculous, yes, but they're just an exaggeration of the ideal qualities of heroism in general and it's not worth undercutting that through trying to get one liners through. If there's one lesson to take from Wonder Woman, it's that.
Click to expand...

Right. People want to feel something. I think one of the reasons GOTG is a bit better than GOTG2 is that the first one is a little less afraid to wear its big dorky heart in its sleeve with things like the danceoff. The second leans on funny one-liners harder
 
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